WNT7B drives a program for pancreatic cancer subtype switching and progression

Abstract

Hyperactivation of WNT signaling is a hallmark of cancer, often driven by increased expression of WNT ligands. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), elevated WNT7B and WNT10A correlate with aggressive, basal-like disease and poor patient survival, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Using patient-derived organoids, we show that WNT7B promotes proliferation and maintains basal-like transcriptional states by preventing differentiation toward a more classical PDAC signature. Clonal WNT7B reporter organoids reveal that WNT-high cells are heterogeneously distributed and stably coexist with WNT-low/negative lineages. Hybrid co-cultures demonstrate that WNT7B-expressing cells support the survival and growth of neighboring WNT-negative cells via short-range, contact-dependent signaling. These findings highlight the functional importance of heterogeneous WNT7B/10A expression in driving PDAC aggressiveness and suggest that targeted WNT inhibition may shift tumors toward a more differentiated, less aggressive state, offering potential therapeutic benefit.